Reincarnation Ascensation
by iuree
Summary: They began the war and were well-prepared with the knowledge they might not be there to see the end of it. Knowledge doesn't always make things easier.


Ira stared balefully down his keyblade at Aced. He didn't bother to hide the jitter in his arm anymore, too exhausted from such a pointless war to pretend his grievous - yes, grievous - injuries he'd taken weren't affecting him.

He knew he should have taken the chance, to take the final blow, but...

Ira sighed, lowering his keyblade and letting it dissipate in a flash of light. "I'm not killing you, Aced," he said, voice exhausted and broken.

Aced grunted, not seeming surprised. "You should've thought of that before fighting me." All Ira could do was shrug and limp closer, sinking down to sit beside him as they watched hearts of innumerable wielders ascend to join Kingdom Hearts. A jolt of pain shot through him on contact with the ground and he immediately ground his palm into his side in a helpless display of attempting to stop his bleeding.

"This really is it, then." It wasn't a question.

"I hope so," Aced replied, grunting again as he adjusted himself to sit more upright against Ira's shoulder. "I hope this is what the Master was warning us about, instead of some other keyblade war that's supposed to happen."

"As horrible as it is to say... well, we're dying. I suppose I shouldn't worry about that anymore," Ira gave a dark chuckle that turned into a coughing fit. He didn't bother to hide the blood spattered on his hand once he'd recovered. "It's horrible to say, but you can't deny the view is beautiful."

Aced hummed in agreement and they simply gazed at Kingdom Hearts, visible through the x-shaped clearing in the dark clouds above. "It feels like it's been years since we just sat down like this," he finally said, breaking the comfortable silence they'd fallen into.

"I'm sorry," was all Ira could say to that.

"It was a group effort for it all to come to this, don't go taking all the credit."

Aced's breathing slowed, and a spike of panic shot through Ira. "Stay with me, Aced!"

"I just wanted the Master to come back," Aced said, voice thick. "But if these really are our last moments together, I don't want to talk about him. I'm glad to have known you before all this, and it was an honor to call you a brother." He turned his head, single blue eye peeking at him earnestly through the damage his mask had taken. "I want you to know that."

His lips pressed into a grim thin line. "It was an honor," Ira echoed hoarsely, throat tight. "It was an honor to know you, Aced."

"Aced?"

Aced couldn't respond, and Ira watched his heart - beautiful, untarnished - ascend like so many others had.

"Ah," Ira leaned back, heart rending in a way words could never describe. He released the pressure from his side and examined his bloody hand as evidence of Aced's masterful work. "Gula said that Kingdom Hearts was supposed to bring us all back together," he said, to nobody in particular. Then, focusing on the hearts in the sky. "Why?"

A sudden bitter rage welled up within him, angry at the hand fate had dealt them. Angry at the predetermined end they'd come to, that they'd had no hope of averting. Ira dragged himself to his feet and in the heated rebellion of the moment, cast aside the damaged mask the Master had expressly forbidden them from removing. "Kingdom Hearts, why is a heart such a heavy burden to bear?"

He trudged forward again, almost tripping from the sudden dizziness from his gut wound bleeding freely, as well as the crisscross Aced had carved into his face was still running heartily down his face and he tasted the iron tang of blood with each breath. Ira pressed his palm to his side again. "Answer me! All my heart knows now is torment and sorrow. How can something with so much potential for light fall so easily to pain?!"

As expected, the moon offered no answers. Ira grit his teeth, upturned face twisted with a raw combination of rage and anguish. "If we could be reborn, either spare me the suffering of killing my brothers in arms or _take this burden away!"_ he roared with all the might of his existence, pain shooting through his entire body at the strain of it, arm reaching up as if he could grasp the heart-shaped moon and pull it from the sky.

"Take it," he repeated, feebly now as his vision blurred. "Take it away."

He saw a smear of something light ascend, and had a split moment of reprieve before succumbing. In that fraction of a second, Ira felt as if he'd earned a Faustian punishment.

The pain of having a heart was nothing compared to the vast emptiness of losing it.

As he fell, the moon laughed.


End file.
